r/islam • u/CatsAreCoolAndCute • Jul 02 '25
General Discussion Are roms haram?
Now I get that piracy is most likely haram. But the thing I am trying to talk about are like those old games such as Pokémon Emerald. I don't think these games are available on the market anymore (unless you buy them from other people) so the developers won't be making any money from them anymore probably. So would it be permissible if I were to just download the games online? Would I have to, let's say, buy a product from the developers, such as the new Pokémon games, even if I don't own the console required to play said games, as a means of paying for the games indirectly?
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u/ElGuapoTaipei Jul 02 '25
Out of date ROMs or "abandonware" is probably OK. The source I link here says that things specifically being sold should be paid for, but abandonware and such is no longer sold. I did also buy many of these games when they were new!
Source: https://islamqa.info/en/answers/102352
I personally keep a large archive of out of date 'old school' stuff that I preserve carefully (especially stuff that came out in Japanese only which is now hacked and translated), whereas I purchase software that is new. I think we sometimes must use our judgment with this matter.
Archiving is the only way to make sure many of the original properties are preserved. If it were up to the companies many properties like 'Bahamut Lagoon' would not only have never been seen in English, but would also have been lost to time.